Layerpaint reads STL (binary or ASCII), OBJ, and 3MF files. If a 3MF already carries paint state from Layerpaint, that paint is restored when you re-open it.
It also reads its own project file format, .layerpaint, which preserves the welded mesh, palette, boundaries, symmetry settings — everything. Save those alongside your exports.
- Every session starts here.
- If you don't have a model handy, click Demo and follow along with any other tutorial.
- Reopening a project? Drop the
.layerpaintfile the same way you'd drop an STL.
- Open layerpaint.app in your browser. The viewport is empty with a drop hint.
- Click Demo in the top bar. The sample robot loads, the status line fills in with triangle count, region count, and percent-painted.
- Or drag-drop your own file onto the viewport. Any STL, OBJ, or 3MF works.
- Reload a saved project. Drag a
.layerpaintfile onto the viewport. The mesh, palette, paint, boundaries — all restored.
- Models in metres or inches? Layerpaint auto-fits the camera, so display works fine — but slicer-readiness checks (extrusion width, discard risk) assume millimetres. Re-export your CAD in mm for those numbers to mean anything.
- Multi-body STLs load as one mesh. If you wanted them as separate parts, split them in your CAD or slicer first.
- Loaded sideways? See Orient model — rotate 90° around X/Y/Z without losing your paint.